Reserves - Basic?

[worth]

You would be doing 2 courses. BMQ (Basic Military Qualification) and SQ (Soldier Qualification). Everyone in the forces does these two courses no matter what trade you are. After you are done those two, you do your QL3 which is your trades course. (Infantry, Engineer, Medic, Technician, whatever)

In the reserves it will take you 2 months to do BMQ and SQ. Your trades course should be another month. Normally, most people get their BMQ and SQ done in the summer (July, August) and then do their trades training the following summer. You aren't a "trained" Private until you complete your trades course. Then you will get a chevron.

I did both of my courses out of town, but they do run the courses in Calgary. They used to run them on weekends, but I would rather not do it that way. Doing it all at once gives you the feeling like you're really on your own just with these bunch of people you don't really know in the same situation as you. There's no where to escape to.

Looking back on BMQ and SQ, it's awesome to think about. But I would never want to do it again. I did my BMQ/SQ courses in the summer of 2003, so it was a while ago now.

The first day of BMQ was the longest day of my life up to that point. 5am-11pm work. 18 hours straight of moving constantly and trying to figure things out. Information overload, trying not to get yelled at. Trying to do everything how you were told. Trying to tie your boot laces properly is even difficult under pressure.

6 hours of sleep a night is not a lot when you a doing something every minute of every day.

BMQ is basically half classroom stuff, half parade stuff. You won't get issued a rifle until maybe 2 weeks in or so. Then you will start parading with a rifle, and doing rifle drills.

You'll go to the range at the end of BMQ to qualify on your rifle.

Also, I don't know if it was like this for anyone else, but you may want to practice doing pushups, situps and all those other fun army things on asphalt and pavement. I'm sure 3/4 of my pushups were done on pavement during training. Same with firing in the prone position. Always on pavement. Elbows get worn out pretty fast.

I would say anyone can do BMQ if they push themselves. If they don't let the yelling get to them. If they're willing to get up every day at 5am with less than 6 hours of sleep. If they're willing to work 7 days a week for 3 weeks straight and do rucksack marches on the weekends.

SQ is another story though. It's a more fun story. You get to learn all the weapons, get to learn more tactics, get to go to wainwright for a long time and dig a trench and sit in it for 5 days without sleep while getting continually attacked and having CS gas thrown at you.

It will probably rain in wainwright, and drop down to 5 degrees in the summer, and you will be miserable and cold and feel like crap, and you will probably ache and your back will hurt and you won't be able to poo from eating IMP's but it will be worth it once you're done.

[Byrns]

The key to getting through basic is, always be in the middle. Never the best, and never the worst. Also, always look busy, and never comfortable.

You'll hardly get yelled at that way.

[CaptainCrunch]

When I was instructing a basic training reserve group in my last few months, I made sure I was an equal opportunity yeller, I went after everyone, the really good, the really bad and the middle. During JLC we also learned about the power of the stare, where you didn't say anything, you just stood at a distance and glared.

I knew things were changing when we became the politically correct army. Where swearing at the ranks during instruction was frowned upon. No touching, no getting into their personal space. Try to talk in an even tone BS.

The art of being successful as an instructor or leader was the ability to instill fear into the recruits. But the one thing was that looking back at it, the really creative yellers, the really good drill instructers were the kings of sarcasm. Anyone can yell at someone, but its the ones that can make it really bite without being crude or offensive that really win.

[worth]

I was definitely a grey man during my basic course. It worked pretty well for me.

[CaptainCrunch]

The best job when working with Reserve Basic Training Groups was to be part of enemy force. Where you get to go out and basically kill the recruits over and over again.

Myself and a couple of other instructors found old blue berets and made up unit badges for the highly feared Kaplakistan 163rd SOG, we even found old blue and white striped T-Shirts to wear under our uniforms.

We managed to set up one pisser of an ambush and decided to take prisoners back to our area for interrogations. The rest we made them tie their boots together, put their helmets on backwards and march back to camp.

[FlamesAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Flamesalltheway, your way more up to date on this stuff then I am, I'd say your answers are probably better then mine.

I've only been in a few years so they may be a little more up to date... as you know, though, no two courses are ever the same. At least that's what I've noticed. Depends on the staff, location, resources available, fellow course-mates, etc. I was lucky as when I joined more resources, better kit, etc, was starting to become available. Wasn't always that way (especially for reservists) as I am sure you're well aware.

To respond to the post above, I would definitely want to be enemy force on a course at some point. Especially on the sleep deprivation exercise haha. Hilarious messing with troops who haven't slept in 3 days and have reached the point of "the engine's running, but no one's behind the wheel."

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by FlamesAllTheWay

I've only been in a few years so they may be a little more up to date... as you know, though, no two courses are ever the same. At least that's what I've noticed. Depends on the staff, location, resources available, fellow course-mates, etc. I was lucky as when I joined more resources, better kit, etc, was starting to become available. Wasn't always that way (especially for reservists) as I am sure you're well aware.

To respond to the post above, I would definitely want to be enemy force on a course at some point. Especially on the sleep deprivation exercise haha. Hilarious messing with troops who haven't slept in 3 days and have reached the point of "the engine's running, but no one's behind the wheel."

I was completely victimized by the stupidity factor in basic training. I was sent out with two of my squad mates to get to a cross roads and document vehicles.

So I got my squad into place, well hidden well secured and settled comfortably into cover and started counting vehicles.

About 4 hours into this excercies a truck pulls up at the cross roads and a few of the instructors pile out. Of course my squad mates are excited, they think that the excercise is over so they jump out of their concealment and run over to the instructors and straight into captivity. Of course I'm thinking escape and evade and get back to report, so I start moving into the bush as quietly as I can.

Of course the instructors haven't told by two idiot squad mates that they're enemy force and the causually ask the question "Where's your leader".

Of course both of my squad mates point over to my concealment point and excitedly exclaim "He's right over there"

I knew I was busted, so I pulled out my SMG (Thats how long ago I was in) and just laid down fire, probably killing most of enemy force and my two squad mates.

But they managed to flank me and capture me.

As they're walking me back, the Warrent leans over and asks me what I did what I did, it was great that I killed some of the enemy, but I burned down my squad mates in the process.

I shrugged my shoulders and stated that they were too stupid to live.

I got a good laugh out of it, and about 100 pushups.

[wooohooo]

Haha. That's awesome. How long were you in the Army for Crunch? Sounds like you got to do a lot of really cool things.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Haha. That's awesome. How long were you in the Army for Crunch? Sounds like you got to do a lot of really cool things.

Combined it was 4 years, through that 4 years I spent a bunch of time attached to regular force units.

If I had a checklist of things that I accomplished, I'd say I got a maximum out of it

1) Shoot rifles chuck grenades, fire an anti tank missile, ? check
2) Went over seas? yup
3) Jumped out of an airplane? Yup
4) Rapelled out of a helicopter? yup
5) got to play the bad guy? yup
6) Got into a drunken bar fight? Yup
7) Got to totally flumox a Admiral, without him knowing it? Yup
8) Got to parade through a city? yup
9) got to travel in the back of an armored vehicle? Yup
10) Got to do a peace keeping deployment? Yup
11) Got to take place in an actual battle? nope, thank god
12) Use my uniform to get chicks? Big time

There were a lot more things that I did, but the cool thing was that everyday was an amazing amount of fun for me. My biggest regret was not staying in and making a career out of it, but at the time, the pay was lousy, and the government really didn't support us at all.

[MacGr3gor]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Combined it was 4 years, through that 4 years I spent a bunch of time attached to regular force units.

If I had a checklist of things that I accomplished, I'd say I got a maximum out of it

1) Shoot rifles chuck grenades, fire an anti tank missile, ? check
2) Went over seas? yup
3) Jumped out of an airplane? Yup
4) Rapelled out of a helicopter? yup
5) got to play the bad guy? yup
6) Got into a drunken bar fight? Yup
7) Got to totally flumox a Admiral, without him knowing it? Yup
8) Got to parade through a city? yup
9) got to travel in the back of an armored vehicle? Yup
10) Got to do a peace keeping deployment? Yup
11) Got to take place in an actual battle? nope, thank god
12) Use my uniform to get chicks? Big time

There were a lot more things that I did, but the cool thing was that everyday was an amazing amount of fun for me. My biggest regret was not staying in and making a career out of it, but at the time, the pay was lousy, and the government really didn't support us at all.

If #12 and #6 are related I really want to hear that story

[Savvy27]

Captain, when you describe the mission simulations, how does it work? When you mention that you were able to take some of the guys out when your idiot squadmates screwed up, do you use blanks and the result is determined by your position, or is there some other way to do it?

Is there anyone who has joined the weekend reserves? It sounds like a very useful experience, but I won't be able to make a full-time commitment any time soon.

[worth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multipl...agement_System

Can't speak for Cap'n, but we would use Miles gear on occasion, especially in the US on exercise. Or just blanks.

There is no "weekend reserves". It's Primary Reserve or Regular Force. We've been discussing the Primary Reserve in this thread.

In the primary Reserve, you need to work 1 weeknight per week and one weekend per month plus courses, which usually run 4 weeks straight.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by worth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multipl...agement_System

Can't speak for Cap'n, but we would use Miles gear on occasion, especially in the US on exercise. Or just blanks.

There is no "weekend reserves". It's Primary Reserve or Regular Force. We've been discussing the Primary Reserve in this thread.

In the primary Reserve, you need to work 1 weeknight per week and one weekend per month plus courses, which usually run 4 weeks straight.

In our day we didn't use Miles gear. We just had blank ammunition and an assumption of death, called by the referee.

When I was in, it was one weekday per month and one weekend day per month unless you were running an excercise.

In the summer you had to usually give 2 weeks to a month depending on course loads and excercises. In my day we usually had a massive month long excercise called Milcon. Don't know if they do that anymore.

[worth]

I don't think they do month long exercises anymore, but we used to have Active Edge in August:

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/land-te...eng.asp?id=473

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

The longest that the exercises seem to get these days is roughly 10 days - this year it took place in Yellowknife from 2-11 May.

My experiences from reserve basic training is that with everything you will get out of it what you put into it. It isn't overly difficult if you put the proper effort into everything that you do and move with a sense of purpose. I took the weekend courses when I did it just due to time issues, personally I think that I got a hell of a lot more out of the full time courses that I have since taken as it is difficult to turn on army mode as has previously been stated.

If you do decide to go through with it feel free to send me a PM and I will answer as many questions as I am able to.

Keep in mind the process for getting all of your paperwork in is a long one and can take 4-6 months, so don't expect to do anything until at least September/October.